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Photo © Tom Casino/ SHOWTIME
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Coming into the Joel ‘El Cepillo’ Casamayor-Daniel Seda fight I couldn’t shake my mind of a third party who was linked between the two fighters. That man was Derrick Gainer, with whom Seda did battle in August of 2002 in Puerto Rico. In their encounter Gainer, a slick-punching southpaw with pop, decked Seda early in the first round and had the Puerto Rican native befuddled over the next two rounds. Gainer cracked Seda with looping left hands that seemed to come from out of nowhere and looked to be on his way towards and easy victory before a clash of heads caused a headbutt which would prematurely end the contest. No clear winner was declared but the consensus feeling was that Seda was given a break and was lucky to come away with the No Contest verdict.
Fast forward nearly two years later and we were faced with a similar situation at Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena. Seda would be going to war with Casamayor, a fighter who shared many of Gainer's same qualities, being that he is slick, quick, left handed, and would presumably be a step ahead of young Seda. I expected Casamayor to deck Seda early in the bout and finish things off within the next couple of rounds in electrifying fashion. Boy was I in for a surprise.
The fight started off with Casamayor stalking his prey, using a stinging right jab that kept Seda at bay. Seda seemed a bit lost, like a young tyke in the woods, and was content on just sizing up his more experienced foe. Casamayor continued his hunt over the next couple of rounds and began to find range with his left hand. Joel began to land an occasional body shot and hurt Seda with a blistering shot upstairs. Although Seda was fazed he was not short on heart, and he continued to survive. Both men came out for the fifth round and it was then that things would really heat up.
Casamayor struck like a viper and unleashed a barrage of punches while he had Seda on the ropes, scoring a knockdown and bringing out frenzy from the lively Miami fans. Seda didn’t appear to be hurt and continued fighting. And just as I was expecting the worst for the young boricua things would take a dramatic change. As Casamayor was stepping in, Seda delivered a beautiful left-right combination that had the Cuban tasting nothing but canvas. Casamayor seemed more surprised than anything else, and got up with a sheepish look on his face. The assumed walk in the park that this match was expected to be had taken a wrong turn and the fight was on.
Over the next couple of rounds Seda’s confidence grew and he became a man possessed, attacking Casamayor with everything he had. Seeing Seda pour his heart out reminded me of his meeting with Nana Konadu, a fight in which Seda had to bite down and survive some shaky moments before finally coming away with the win.
Casamayor, ever the cool customer, stuck to his plan and continued to land left hands as well. Despite the turn of momentum it was clear that Casamayor wasn’t about to let the tables completely turn on him.
The fight was give and take down the stretch, with several of the closing rounds being stanzas that could have gone either fighter’s way. The bell rang for the end of the tenth and both fighters were raised in the air. The Miami crowd was lively all night and stood on its feet in recognition of the effort put forth by both prizefighters.
Seda was all smiles, perhaps surprising himself with his gutsy effort, but Casamayor still seemed confident in victory. The scores were read, 98-92 on all three cards and Joel Casamayor once again came out on top, improving his record to 31-2 (19 KO’s). Seda's record falls to 20-1-1, (16 KO’s) but his stock certainly rises with his very courageous performance.
Afterwards both men seemed to be pleased with their efforts, with Casamayor stating he still feels he is the best Jr. Lightweight that the world has to offer. Both can expect to be seeing more televised action in big bouts down the road.
Many people have been talking of a Casamayor-Erik Morales match down the road, and if ‘El Terrible’ is able to get past his July 31st date with Carlos Hernandez it would be a great fight for the sport of boxing.
Who knows what lies ahead for Daniel Seda, but he certainly caught my attention tonight and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of him either. I’ll be keeping my eyes on these two warriors as their career paths move on.
Good show, gentlemen, good show.
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© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2004
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By Chris Robinson (July 6, 2004) 
